- Meta to take legal action against Israeli spyware company NSO
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Meta has said it is filing a federal US court contempt order against Israeli spyware firm NSO Group for violating a permanent injunction that barred it from ever targeting WhatsApp and its users. The company said on Monday that its WhatsApp messaging service disrupted new spear phishing attempts linked to NSO, an entity blacklisted by the United States government for engaging in activities that are contrary to national security or foreign policy interests. … Meta said WhatsApp took down test accounts and groups created by NSO on its platform. NSO did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Last year, a US court ordered NSO to stop targeting Meta’s WhatsApp, a development the spyware company warned could put it out of business.” (06/08/26)
- UN protests women’s arrests in Afghanistan for alleged clothing violations
Source: Seattle Times
“The United Nations’[s] mission in Afghanistan has expressed concern over what it says are arrests and detentions of women in western Afghanistan for allegedly not adhering to regulations governing how they should dress. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said on X late Sunday that the arrests and detentions in the city of Herat raise ‘serious human rights concerns.’ It did not provide details. Afghanistan’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice dismissed the reports of arrests as ‘rumors.’ … A human rights monitor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details to the media, said Monday that monitors had verified at least 16 arrests and detentions, including of a pregnant woman, in Herat since Friday over alleged non-compliance with dress requirements.” (06/08/26)
- Italian coffee giant Lavazza launches single-serve tablets to make espresso in the US
Source: CNBC
“Lavazza is bringing its espresso tablets to the U.S., aiming to loosen Keurig Dr Pepper’s grip on the single-serve coffee category. The Italian coffee giant unveiled Tablì last year and launched the new brewing system first in Italy. The tablets, made of compressed ground coffee without a coating, binder or gelatin, can only be used with a Tablì coffee machine made by Lavazza. Each tablet is marked with the words ‘100% coffee.’ At launch, the tabs will come in five varieties: espresso, double espresso, decaf espresso, super crema and lungo, or a ‘long shot’ espresso brewed with more water. … Lavazza is betting that sustainability is still a top consideration for many coffee drinkers, although Baravalle said that can differ across countries. For years, Keurig’s pods have been dogged by questions about waste, leaving an opening for a competitor with a more environmentally-friendly product.” (06/08/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/08/lavazza-launches-single-serve-tablets-to-make-espresso.html
- Lawsuit seeks to stop UFC fight on the White House South Lawn for Trump’s birthday
Source: Boston Globe
“A federal lawsuit seeks to halt the upcoming UFC fight card on the White House South Lawn in a mixed martial arts show timed for President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and part of the celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary. The filing Saturday by the Public Integrity Project on behalf of two Virginia residents contends the Trump administration’s authorization of the June 14 event was unlawful. The lawsuit says such approval violated National Park Service regulations prohibiting sporting events on federal parklands, Congress did not consent to the towering arch overlooking the event space and no environmental review was conducted before the construction.” (06/08/26)
- UK: Starmer tells Apple & Google to ban nude images on children’s phones
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Tech companies such as Apple and Google have been asked [sic] by the UK government to block access to naked images on smartphones and other devices for under-18s. Sir Keir Starmer has told firms to either activate built-in features or update software to prevent children from taking, sending or viewing sexually explicit images on their phones and other devices. Speaking at London Tech Week, the prime minister said: ‘This is not an impossible challenge. These are some of the most innovative companies in the world and I believe they can solve it.’ The government said it will bring forward legislation to force firms to activate the features if they do not comply voluntarily [sic] within three months. This could include fines or, as a last resort, criminal liability for companies which do not comply.” (06/08/26)
- France: Nintendo will pay a $40 million bribe over faulty Joy-Cons
Source: Engadget
“The Joy-Con stick drift saga never ends. France’s equivalent of the Federal Trade Commission, Direction Générale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Répression des Fraudes or DGCCRF for short, hit Nintendo of Europe with a 35 million euro fine, or more than $40 million. The French authority said the fine was for misleading consumers about the stick drift issues found in the Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Cons. … Nintendo has been doing free repairs for Joy-Cons for affected customers since 2019.” [editor’s note: So the “fine” is just a bribe to be allowed to continue doing business, not restitution/compensaation to the buyers of defective products – TLK] (06/08/26)
https://www.engadget.com/2189455/nintendo-will-pay-a-dollar40-million-fine-for-faulty-joy-cons/
- Ship ferrying aid from Mexico and Belize docks in Cuba as crises deepen
Source: ABC News
“A ship laden with 1,700 tons of food and other aid collected in Mexico and Belize has docked in Cuba to help ease the island’s crises. Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel said that the aid was sent by government officials in both countries, as well as supporters and Cubans living abroad. ‘We appreciate the supportive embrace in such difficult times,’ Díaz-Canel wrote in a post on X on Sunday. A U.S. energy blockade that began in late January has halted oil shipments to Cuba, which is experiencing severe blackouts and food shortages.” (06/08/26)
- How the Libertarian Movement Missed the Authoritarian Moment
Source: The UnPopulist
by Marlene LaruelleInterview with Shikha Dalmia. Dalmia: “My break with libertarianism happened when Trump arrived on the scene. I was working at Reason magazine at that time and, the minute Trump came down the golden escalator, it was clear to me that he was a different kind of politician: he was a demagogue and an authoritarian, he didn’t really understand liberalism, and he didn’t understand America’s core commitments. … It is not that libertarians were completely unconcerned about Trump; it’s that they were just not taking the threat seriously. They were treating him as a normal politician, just bad in a different kind of way and, at best, maybe a corrective to the excesses of the left. This chasm between me and libertarian circles just kept growing, and it was getting hard to get my point of view taken seriously.” (06/08/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/how-the-libertarian-movement-missed
- The Pentagon’s New War — Canceling American Religion and American History
Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Professor Paul Finkelman“The Trump administration recently announced that it is removing about 180 religions from those recognized by the Pentagon. This is an obvious violation of the First Amendment’s protection of religious liberty. In essence, the Administration has ‘established’ 31 religions as acceptable to the U.S. government and denied religious freedom to members of many other faiths. … The message of the administration is that some faiths matter, and many do not. There seems to be some politics involved here. The ‘liberal’ Unitarian/Universalist Church, which is as old as the nation itself, is no longer officially a church. Nor are churches tied to minorities, such as the Native American Church or the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME).” (06/08/26)
- Why Trump Seems Confused By His Own War
Source: Persuasion
by Sam Kahn“With all the bravado that tends to accompany Donald Trump, something else has been striking me recently—when faced with major decisions, there’s a way in which he carries himself like a wise fool in a Shakespeare play, bemused by all the tumult that’s going on around him. In a revealing moment, on March 17, when asked to explain why the United States was at war with Iran, Trump said, ‘You could say we did it out of habit’ — as if the war was just a bit of noise going on in the background and had nothing really to do with him. … what is this storm that sweeps Trump along, this force that he can only bemusedly watch? I would argue that it’s political realism — the doctrine that’s taken over the second Trump administration, maybe not entirely with Trump willing it, but which marks a fundamentally different era in international relations.” (06/08/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/trump-misunderstands-realism
- Trump Can’t End War Against Iran Until He Gets Israel Under Control
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Connor Echols“Amid a rapid escalation between Israel and Iran, Yemen’s Houthis have rejoined the Iran war, launching a volley of missiles at Israel and pledging to implement ‘a complete and total ban’ of Israeli shipping in the Red Sea. It’s safe to say that the tenuous ceasefire in the Middle East is now unraveling. President Donald Trump demanded that all parties deescalate, writing on Truth Social Monday morning that ‘Final negotiations on ‘Peace’ are proceeding’ so long as ‘ignorance or stupidity’ don’t get in their way. But the latest developments suggest that the United States has limited control over the path of the conflict, which is now entering its fourth month.” (06/08/26)
- How Much Ethnocentrism is Okay?
Source: Racket News
by Matt Taibbi“I don’t think of America as a ‘white’ country. To me the best part of our system is that anyone can be an American overnight, provided he or she accepts a few minor guidelines, like agreeing to tolerate other religions and embrace free speech. As for the early academic weasel word ‘ethnocentrism,’ it’s so close in meaning to ‘chauvinism’ that it probably never needed to exist, but in the name of making work for Yale social scientists, we apparently must live with it. How chauvinistic should Americans be? I don’t know. Just enough? As much as any other citizen of any other place?” (06/08/26)
- Pastor’s open letter to Talarico says it all
Source: Washington Times
by Everett Piper“The list of biblical absurdities from James Talarico, the Democratic Senate candidate in Texas, continues to grow. In addition to his claims that God is ‘nonbinary,’ that ‘the Bible is silent about abortion’ and that there are ‘six different genders,’ we now have his contention that Mary’s consent to the virgin birth is a story about her being ‘pro-choice.’ How should we respond? Well, sometimes someone else has already said it better than you ever could. The following is an abbreviated version of an open letter written by Jeff Mullen, a pastor from Nevada, and posted to his social media on May 29.” [editor’s note: Except for the six-genders nonsense, and the concept of “informed consent” for a minor, a case can be made for each of the other statements, if you view the Bible as an “inspired” metaphysical history book written by human beings – SAT] [additional editor’s note: Judaism, in the Midrash and Talmud, does in fact recognize six genders — Zachar, Nekevah, Androgynos, Tumtum, Ay’Ionit, and Saris – TLK] (06/07/26)
- Bessent’s Neo-Mercantilism: New Podium, Old Mistakes
Source: The Daily Economy
by David Hebert“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and others argue that tariffs and industrial policy can restore America’s strength. In reality, diversified supply chains and open markets provide greater resilience than economic nationalism.” (06/08/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/bessents-neo-mercantilism-new-podium-old-mistakes/
- An Ode to Bicameralism
Source: Law & Liberty
by Ojel L Rodríguez Burgos“Bicameralism has been a vital safeguard of liberty — it would be sorely missed if Western democracies traded it away.” (06/08/26)
- It Will Stop When the American People Decide to Stop It, and Not Before
Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis“We can blame the politicians. We can castigate them mightily, and we should, because they have — both parties — become a liability to the nation, wholly untrustworthy, corrupt and self-centered. Hey, Republicans: ‘If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small’ (Proverbs 24:10). Maybe no thought in human history describes gutless Republican Party politicians better than that. Here is one that perfectly pictures the Democrats: ‘Every intent of the thoughts of [their] heart [is] only evil continually’ (Genesis 6:5). Back to the days of Noah … But, yeah, while we can, and should, reprimand politicians of both parties, who is really to blame here? Who elects the politicians to office? Ultimately, the American people have no one to blame but themselves for the condition of their country.” (06/08/26)
- The way out is significant economic growth
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall“We’re told that the national debt is about to murder the economy in its bed …. Given that taxation is already at historical highs as a level of everything more of that’s not going to work. The idea that there will ever be any significant cuts in spending is, aha, aha, one of those solutions not to be found in the possible space of political solutions. Sure, we’d be delighted to point to all the things government shouldn’t be doing to bring the bill down but we do agree that a Parliament that would do this is unlikely. Which leaves only the one other possible solution — change the denominator. Debt at 100/100 is a different thing from debt at 100/200. So, grow the economy.” (06/08/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/the-way-out-is-significant-economic-growth
- Woodrow Wilson’s War Against the Constitution
Source: American Greatness
by Jon Fleischman“When I survey the long parade of presidents who led this country, from giants like Washington and Lincoln to the mediocrities and failures, one man stands apart as uniquely destructive: Woodrow Wilson. When he entered the White House in 1913, he brought unusual credentials: a doctorate from Johns Hopkins, a scholarly reputation, and experience leading Princeton University. Americans thought they were getting their first true scholar-president. What they got instead was the worst president in American history, a man whose toxic blend of intellectual arrogance, racial prejudice, and authoritarian instincts inflicted wounds on this country that we are still trying to heal. Wilson’s academic background shaped everything in his presidency, sometimes for better, often for worse. He approached governing like a professor addressing a stubborn class, convinced that if he explained things clearly enough, everyone would eventually see the wisdom of his vision.” (06/08/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/06/08/woodrow-wilsons-war-against-the-constitution/
- The “Living Wage” Attack on Jobs and Prosperity
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille“Rep. Ro Khanna’s minimum wage proposal promises prosperity but would likely price many low-skilled workers out of the labor market.” (06/08/26)
https://reason.com/2026/06/08/the-living-wage-attack-on-jobs-and-prosperity/
- Critics mock new White House ballroom, but modern security is no joke
Source: Fox News
by Brett L Tolman“This year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner should have been the same as any other: a beloved, annual tradition that brings together the media, politicians, and administration officials to celebrate our free press, build relationships, and honor the First Amendment. Instead, the event served as a reminder of the urgent need to modernize and secure the White House complex. The third assassination attempt of President Donald Trump proves these are no longer random acts. This is a pattern.” [editor’s note: And yet Trump is going out to a basketball game. Apparently security is only a considerration when he wants to build something – TLK] (06/08/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/critics-mock-new-white-house-ballroom-modern-security-joke
- Obama’s Bonkers Beacon
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob“‘We had the idea of a beacon,’ said the architect who designed the Obama Presidential Center.
It looks like … a triumph of brutalist … whimsy? (Is that even possible?) A science-fictional housing for our ET overlords, maybe. Or something worse. Perhaps Baphomet poses inside. You’ve probably seen the outside of the monstrosity by now. If you’re like me, you’ve marveled at this triumph of bad taste. It surely symbolizes something, but what?” (06/08/26)https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/06/08/obamas-bonkers-beacon/
- Spheres Within Spheres
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders“Friedrich Hayek spent much of his later life thinking about a tension at the heart of civilization. The rules that make large-scale social life possible are often not the ones our evolved instincts would tend to generate on their own. Humans evolved for life in small, familiar groups, but eventually we learned to live within a far more impersonal civilization — one sustained by property, contract, law, and market exchange, and by standards of conduct that no one designed. That order did not arise from a blueprint or command. … That insight still has force, but it leaves a critical question open.” (06/08/26)
- Early Progressives Understood What Minimum Wages Do
Source: The Daily Economy
by Logan Tanibanchachai“Progressives once embraced minimum wages as a tool to exclude marginal workers from the labor market. Modern advocates have different goals, but the same economic effect.” (06/08/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/early-progressives-understood-what-minimum-wages-do/
- A Public Bank in California Would Be Costly, Risky, and Unnecessary
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Matt Fleming“Forming a state-run bank in California would be a massive undertaking for which the state is woefully unqualified. It’s also a big risk to taxpayers and is totally unnecessary. But lawmakers were pushing forward anyway.” (06/08/26)
https://fee.org/articles/a-public-bank-in-california-would-be-costly-risky-and-unnecessary/
- Gaza: A Meditation on Spirit and Survival
Source: Antiwar.com
by M Reza Behnam“The human spirit cannot comprehend the reality of tens of thousands of Palestinians entombed beneath mountains of pulverized concrete. The very air of Gaza carries the heavy toxic dust of war and of extinguished lives. To gaze upon the ruins, is to confront not only its physical erasure, but the malign systematic campaign of the Israeli regime to wholly erase Palestinian ethnic, cultural and national identity – the very definition of genocide.” (06/08/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/reza_behnam/2026/06/07/gaza-a-meditation-on-spirit-and-survival/
- We’re Freaking Doomed without Freedom from State Rule
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by George Ford Smith“For now, at least, we know what computers can and cannot do. Whatever their limitations, it is clear their development is on an exponential path, and any shortcomings will be short-lived. … The combination of these strengths will be formidable, to say the least. And these strengths will continue to grow exponentially. It’s quite possible this technology could become the exclusive domain of the state, the only organization that ‘legitimately’ acquires its revenue by theft, which it enforces with a vengeance. Despite its elaborate pretensions and propaganda, the state, by its nature, is the enemy of the people, as all criminals are.” (06/08/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/were-freaking-doomed-without-freedom-state-rule
- Trump Is Doing What FDR Could Not
Source: Foreign Policy
by Julian E Zelizer“To understand the hold that Trump has on his party, it is useful to look back to the 1938 midterms, when Franklin D. Roosevelt — one of the most consequential presidents in U.S. history — failed to keep his party on the same page. When Roosevelt tried to purge the Democratic Party of conservative Southern legislators who were holding back his New Deal, the president found himself on the losing end of the battle, empowering the very forces he was trying to stop. … The irony, though, is that, despite his defeat in 1938, Roosevelt ultimately helped build a far more enduring Democratic coalition. … Trump, by contrast, has tied his party to a deeply unpopular leader and agenda.” (06/08/26)
- Reason Roundtable, 06/08/26
Source: Reason
“Do Democrats Still Have a Big-City Crime Problem?” (06/08/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/06/08/do-democrats-still-have-a-big-city-crime-problem/
- Rising, 06/08/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar on the recent allegations surrounding Maine Democratic Senate Candidate Graham Platner, which have led to some reflecting on the #MeToo movement.” (06/08/26)
- The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 06/08/26
Source: The Dispatch
“Übersheep and Orthogonal Things | Interview: Luke Burgis.” (06/08/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/ubersheep-and-orthogonal-things-interview-luke-burgis/
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/06/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“NDAA Sec. 224 Puts America Last!” (06/08/26)
- EconTalk, 06/08/26
Source: EconTalk
“The Self, the Crowd, and Social Contagion (with Luke Burgis).” (06/08/26)
https://www.econtalk.org/the-self-the-crowd-and-social-contagion-with-luke-burgis/
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 06/08/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump 250 Rally Takes Humiliating Turn as MAGA Ally Harshly Mocks Him.” (06/08/26)